Portable terminal, information processing apparatus, content display system and content display method

ABSTRACT

A portable terminal includes a receiving unit which receives content information, an external device communication unit which conducts communication with an external information device, a display unit which displays the content information received by the receiving unit, an acquiring unit which acquires identification information identifying the content information displayed by the display unit, an operation unit which receives an operation indication from a user, and a control unit which conducts control such that if a transmission indication of the identification information is received by the operation unit while the content information is being displayed, the identification information acquired by the acquiring unit is transmitted to the external information device and the display of the content information by the display unit is terminated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a portable terminal, an informationprocessing apparatus, a content display system, and a content displaymethod.

Cellular phones capable of browsing internet sites and television (TV)programs have come into wide use today. On the other hand, there havebeen increasingly employed television sets capable of connecting tonetworks. In this environment, a technique in which a content receivedby a cellular phone is viewed by a television set with higher usabilityand a technique in which a cellular phone is employed as a remotecontrol device to operate a television set are under discussion.

For example, JP-A-2006-286855 describes a cellular phone including abroadcast receiving function. The cellular phone transmits a history ofviewed programs and playback indication signals thereof to a videoplayback device. According tri the cellular phone, a program which theuser viewed outside his or her house can be again viewed on a largescreen after returning home. It is also possible that when the userviewed part a program outside home during a free period of time, theuser can view its subsequent part, parts before and after the viewedpart, or the entire program from the start point to the end pointthereof after returning home by using a recording and reproducing devicein the house.

JP-A-2005-135346 describes a technique for use in a system including acellular phone, an information processing apparatus, and a display. Whenmail data including Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information isreceived, the cellular phone transfers the mail data via radiocommunication to the information processing apparatus. On receiving themail data, the information processing apparatus displays the mail dataon the display. If an operation is conducted for the URL information inthe mail data, an operation is conducted to access a radio communicationnetwork other than a network used for the radio communication on thebasis of the URL information, and resultantly obtained information isdisplayed on the display.

JP-A-2006-338406 describes a technique in which a communication terminaldevice including another function is ordinary employed as a remotecontrol device to remotely control other communication terminal devices.

Additionally, JP-A-2007-74265 describes a videoconference system using acellular phone connected via the internet to a videoconference server tocommunicate information with the server and a display device capable of,when connected via a communication function to the cellular phone,displaying the information. The videoconference system controls devicesconnected thereto via the videoconference server and a network. Thevideoconference system includes an information display module to displayon a first display of the cellular phone a first videophone screen onwhich the information is displayed using letters. The informationdisplay module also displays on a second display of the display device asecond videophone screen on which image information included in theinformation communicated as above is displayed. JP-A-2007-74265describes a system in which a monitor camera is remotely controlled by acellular phone, and a video image produced from the camera is displayedon a display screen of a Personal Computer (PC).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The portable terminal described in JP-A-2006-286855 is configured tomeet the desires such as a desire in which a program viewed by the useroutside his or her house is to be again viewed on a large screen afterreturning home and a desire to view, for part of a program viewed by theuser outside his or her house during a free period of time, itssubsequent part, parts before and after the viewed part, or the entireprogram from the start point to the end point thereof after returninghome by using a recording and reproducing device in the house (paragraph0006). Specifically, the portable terminal is constructed such that alist of programs viewed in the past is displayed (FIG. 7) and a programselected therefrom is reproduced by the video playback device.

However, there exists a desire in which a content just being viewed by aportable terminal is to be passed to a video playback device tocontinuously viewed the content thereon. This corresponds to, forexample, a situation as follows. In a room in which the video playbackdevice is installed, the user is viewing a program on a portableterminal and desires to pass the viewing of the program to the videoplayback device.

In this case, according to the portable terminal described inJP-A-2006-286855, it is required that the user terminates the viewing onthe portable terminal and then selects from the list of programs viewedin the past a program to be reproduced by the video playback device.This leads to an increase in the number of operation steps depending oncases.

According to the mail terminal described in jP-A-2005-135346, it ispossible, by transmitting a URL, for the information processingapparatus or device to receive information indicating whether or not aninternet site has been viewed by the cellular phone. However, in use ofthe mail terminal described in JP-A-2005-135346, if it is desired toview an internet site on the information processing device side, it isrequired that the user operates the information processing device. Thisleads to an increase in the number of operation steps in some cases.

In JP-A-2006-338406 and JP-A-2007-74265, description has not been givenof the continuation of the viewing of a content on a communicationterminal device in which the viewing of the content on the communicationterminal is passed to a television set or the like. Therefore, in asituation wherein the viewing of a content just being conducted on thecommunication terminal device is to be continued on the video playbackdevice, it is required, even if a cellular terminal is used as a remotecontrol device, that the user terminates the viewing on the cellularterminal and then reproduces the video on the video playback device.This leads to an increase in the number of operation steps depending oncases.

That is, description has not been given of an idea to achieve a smoothercooperative operation when the viewing of a content just being conductedon the portable terminal is to be relayed or passed to the videoplayback device.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portableterminal, an information processing apparatus, a content display system,and a content display method wherein viewing of a content on a portableterminal is smoothly passed to an information processing apparatus.

To achieve the object according to the present invention, there isprovided a portable terminal including a receiving unit which receivescontent information, an external device communication unit whichconducts communication with an external information device, a displayunit which displays the content information received by the receivingunit, an acquiring unit which acquires identification informationidentifying the content information displayed by the display unit, anoperation unit which receives an operation indication from a user, and acontrol unit which conducts control such that if a transmissionindication of the identification information is received by theoperation unit while the content information is being displayed, theidentification information acquired by the acquiring unit is transmittedto the external information device and the display of the contentinformation by the display unit is terminated.

According to the present invention, there is also provided aninformation processing apparatus including an input unit which inputscontent information, a communication unit which conducts communicationwith a portable terminal, a display unit which displays the contentinformation inputted by the input unit, a control unit which conductscontrol such that if the communication unit receives identificationinformation identifying second content information displayed on theportable terminal from the portable terminal while the display unit isdisplaying first content information, the input unit inputs the secondcontent information corresponding to the identification information tobe displayed on the display unit, and the display unit displays thesecond content information in place of the first content information,the control unit conducting control such that if the communication unitreceives an indication signal indicating termination of the display ofthe second content information by the display unit, the display of thesecond content information is terminated and the display of the firstcontent information is resumed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an operation environment of aninternet connection terminal and a mobile terminal in first and secondembodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of: a first embodimentof an internet connection terminal;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodimentof a mobile terminal;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a transition example of screen display on aninternet connection terminal and a mobile terminal in the first to thirdembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining operations of an internetconnection terminal and a mobile terminal in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodimentof an internet connection terminal;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodimentof a mobile terminal;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a flowchart for explaining operations of an internetconnection terminal and a mobile terminal in the second embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a table showing a data layout of an operation history in thethird embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a table showing a data layout of an operation history in thethird embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a table showing a data layout of transmitted data in thethird embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining operations of an internetconnection terminal and a mobile terminal in the third embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

While we have shown and described several embodiments in accordance withour invention, it should be understood that disclosed embodiments aresusceptible of changes and modifications without departing from thescope of the invention. Therefore, we do not intend to be bound by thedetails shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changesand modifications a fall within the ambit of the appended claims.

First Embodiment

Description will now be given of an embodiment including as an example amobile terminal 101 as a portable terminal, an internet connectionterminal 100, and an internet site as a content.

In the embodiment, the internet connection terminal 100 and the mobileterminal 101 are terminals capable of connecting to the internet todisplay a homepage provided by an internet site. FIG. 1 shows an outlineof associated facilities and connection environments for the terminals100 and 101 to connect to the internet 104. Specifically, the terminal100 connects to the internet 104 and the terminal 101 connects theretousing an input unit 102 and a base station 103. The mobile terminal 101is a portable information processing terminal, for example, a cellularphone (abbreviated to “cellular”), a Personal Digital. Assistant (PDA),or a smart phone.

The input unit 102 is an input device of the mobile terminal 101 andincludes, for example, a plurality of buttons. The user conducts anoperation for the mobile terminal 101 using a key, a button, and a dialof the input unit 102.

The base station 103 is a base station with which the mobile terminal101 conducts radio communication to connect to the internet.

The internet 104 conceptually represents a set of Web servers andvarious services on the internet and is connected to the internetconnection terminal 100 and the mobile terminal 101. The mobile terminal101 connects via the base station 103 to the internet 104.

The internet connection terminal 100 is, for example, a television (TV)set, a SetTop Box (STB), or a home server for Digital Living NetworkAlliance (DLNA) and has a function to output video signals and afunction to connect to the internet. The terminal 100 is capable ofconnecting to the internet to display a homepage. The terminal 100 alsoenables the user to view digital broadcast programs delivered using aground wave, Broadcasting by Satellite (BS), Communication Satellite(CS), the internet, and the like. As FIG. 2 shows, the internetconnection terminal 100 includes a digital broadcast receiving unit 200,a digital broadcast signal processing unit 201, a system control unit202, an audio processing unit 203, a speaker 204, a video processingunit 205, a display unit 206, a network communication unit 207, aninternet browser 208, a data saving unit 209, and a data transmittingand receiving unit 210.

The digital broadcast receiving unit 200 is a circuit which receivesdesired broadcast data via an antenna or a cable and restores, based onreceived signals, the broadcast data into data to be digitally processedby the digital broadcast signal processing unit 201.

The digital broadcast signal processing unit 201 includes, for example,a signal separator to conduct demultiplexing of a signal and a decoderto conduct decoding of a signal. The processing unit 201 receivesdigital broadcast data from the receiving unit 200, separates audio dataand video data therefrom, converts the audio data into data of a dataformat to be processed by the audio processing unit 203 and converts thevideo data into data of a data format to be processed by the videoprocessing unit 203, and outputs the converted data items to the audioand video processing units 203 and 205, respectively.

The system control unit 202 includes, for example, a microprocessor andcontrols operations of processing units required to reproduce digitalbroadcast and those required to access the internet.

The audio processing unit 203 includes, for example, anAnalog-to-Digital (AD) converter. The processing unit 203 convertsdigital audio data from the digital broadcast signal processing unit 201into analog audio data to output the data to the speaker 204.

The speaker 204 receives the analog audio data from the audio processingunit 203 to produce sounds from the data.

The video processing unit 205 includes, for example, processing devicessuch as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA), and a Micro Processing Unit (MPU). Theunit 205 receives video data from the digital broadcast signalprocessing unit 201 and the internet browser 208, which will bedescribed later, converts the data into data to be processed by thedisplay unit 206, and delivers the data thereto.

The display unit 206 includes, for example, a display device such as aliquid-crystal display, a plasma display, or the like. The display unit206 includes a display panel, a panel control circuit, and a panelcontrol driver, and displays an image on the display panel using datasupplied from the video processing unit 205. If the internet connectionterminal is a settop box or a home server for DLNA, a video signalincluding, for example, data in a Red, Blue, and Green (RGB) format isoutputted to an external display device, without using the display unit206.

The network communication unit 207 includes, for example, acommunication module capable of connecting to the internet. According toa request from the system control unit 202, the network communicationunit 207 communicates predetermined data with the internet 104.

The internet browser 208 is software which operates according to anindication from the system control unit 202 and which conducts displaycontrol and management for contents received via the networkcommunication unit 207 from the internet 104. The system control unit202 reads the browser 208 from the data saving unit 209 to store it in amemory and controls the browser 208. The browser 208 may be implementedusing a dedicated circuit.

A URL to be displayed on the internet browser 208 is received via thedata transmitting and receiving unit 210 or the network communicationunit 207, which will be described later, or is inputted by the user froma remote control device, not shown.

The data saving unit 209 includes an information recording device, e.g.,a flash memory, an optical disk, a magnetic disk or the like to storeprogram information of received digital broadcast programs, contentsobtained from the internet 104, and data necessary for operations inrespective processing units.

The data transmitting and receiving unit 210 includes a communicationdevice which conducts radio communication with an external terminal suchas the mobile terminal 101 according to standards of, for example,Bluetooth or the wireless Local Area Network (LAN). The unit 210 outputsdata and signals received through the communication, to the systemcontrol unit 202.

As FIG. 3 shows, the mobile terminal 101 includes a communication unit300, a system control unit 301, an internet browser 302, a data savingunit 303, a video processing unit 304, a display unit 305, and a datatransmitting and receiving unit 306.

The communication unit 300 includes a function to conduct radiocommunication with the base station 103 and communicates necessary dataaccording to a request from the system control unit 3. The unit 300includes, for example, a transmitting and receiving device such as afront-end module.

The system control unit 301 includes an information processing device,for example, an MPU or a microprocessor and controls processing unitsrequired to access the internet and processing units required to conductoperations for another mobile terminal 101.

The internet browser 302 is software which conducts management anddisplay control for contents received from the internet 104 via thecommunication unit 300 and the base station 103, according to aninstruction from the system control unit 301. The system control unit301 reads the browser 301 from the data saving unit 303 to store it in amemory and controls the browser 301. The browser 302 may be implementedusing a dedicated circuit. It is assumed in the configuration that a URLof an internet site is obtained from the input unit 102 or is receivedvia the communication unit 300 or the data transmitting and receivingunit 306, which will be described later.

The data saving unit 303 includes a flash memory and stores contentsobtained from the internet 104 and data necessary for operations inrespective processing units.

The video processing unit 304 includes a processing device such as anMPU. The unit 304 converts a content supplied from the internet browser302 into data to be processed by the display unit 305 and delivers thedata thereto.

The display unit 305 includes, for example, a display panel, a panelcontrol circuit, and a panel control driver and displays an image on thedisplay panel using data supplied from the video processing unit 304.

The data transmitting and receiving unit 306 conducts radiocommunication with an external terminal such as the internet connectionterminal 100 according to standards of, for example, Bluetooth(registered trademark) or the wireless LAN. The unit 210 outputs dataand signals received through the communication, to the system controlunit 301.

In operation of the internet connection terminal 100 and the mobileterminal 101, an internet site being displayed on the mobile terminal101 can be displayed on the internet connection terminal 100. Also, theuser can operate the internet connection terminal 100 by use of themobile terminal 101. FIG. 4 shows an outline of screen layouts andscreen transitions on the terminals 100 and 101 in the configurationincluding state A, a screen display 401, a button display 402, a screendisplay 403, state B, a screen display 404, a button display 405, and ascreen display 406.

State A shows states of screens on both terminals 100 and 101 when theuser is conducting an internet browsing operation using the mobileterminal 101. The screen display 401 is an example when an internet siteis displayed on the display unit 305 of the mobile terminal 101. Thebutton display 402 is an icon displayed in the display unit 305 of themobile terminal 101 and displays a relationship between the buttondisplay 402 and an operation conducted in response to depression of anassociated button. This also applies to the button display 405. In theexample, when the user presses a selection button of the button display402 using the input unit 102, the system executes change-over processingto pass the display of the internet site to the internet connectionterminal 100. The button is ordinarily assigned with another function ofthe cellular phone. The button may be configured such that the functionis assigned in the change-over processing when the internet site isbeing displayed on the mobile terminal 101. The screen display 403 is anexample in which a TV program is displayed on the display 206 of theinternet connection terminal 100.

State B shows states of screens on both terminals 100 and 101 when theuser is conducting an internet browsing operation using the internetconnection terminal 100. The screen display 404 is an example when anoperation guide is displayed on the display unit 305 of the mobileterminal 101 to operate the internet connection terminal 100 from themobile terminal 101. In a state wherein the screen display 404 is beingdisplayed on the display unit 305, the mobile terminal 101 can conductoperation for the internet connection terminal 100. The screen display406 is an example in which an internet site is displayed on the displayunit 206 of the internet connection terminal 100. Also, the screendisplay 406 shows a state in which a homepage of the internet sitedisplayed on the mobile terminal 101 in the screen state 401 isdisplayed on the internet connection terminal 100. In the example, whenthe user presses a selection button of the button display 405 using theinput unit 102, the system executes change-over processing to change thedisplay of the internet site from the internet connection terminal 100to the portable terminal 101.

In this situation, if the display operation changes from state A tostate B, the internet site display on the mobile terminal 101 isterminated. if the display operation changes from state B to state A,the internet site display on the internet connection 100 is terminated.

In place of the button displays 402 and 405 and the buttons associatedtherewith, there may be arranged an input device of touch panel type.

Next, description will be given of operations in the internet connectionterminal 100 and the mobile terminal 101 configured as above byreferring to FIGS. 2 to 4 and the flowchart of FIG. 5.

During reception or playback of a digital broadcast, if the internetconnection 100 receives a URL of an internet site sent by radio from themobile terminal 101 as a result of an operation by the user, theinternet connection terminal 100 displays an internet site indicated bythe URL. Thereafter, the internet connection terminal 100 accepts anoperation for the terminal 100 from the mobile terminal 101.

First, referring to FIG. 2, description will be given of an operation inwhich the internet connection terminal 100 conducts reception andplayback of a digital broadcast.

Assume that the user carries out an operation to send an indication tothe internet connection terminal 100, the indication requesting start ofreception and playback of a digital broadcast, by using, for example, aremote control device, not shown.

In response to the indication, the terminal 100 converts the signalreceived by the data transmitting and receiving unit 210 from the remotecontrol device into predetermined information and notifies theinformation to the system control unit 202. The control unit 202delivers an indication to start reception processing to the digitalbroadcast receiving unit 200, digital broadcast signal processing unit201, the audio processing unit 203, and the video processing unit 205.

In response to the indication from the system control unit 202, thedigital broadcast receiving unit 200 decodes signals obtained from theantenna and the cable to produce data to be digitally processed by thedigital broadcast processing unit 201 and outputs the data thereto.

The processing unit 201 separates video data and audio data from thereceived data and converts the video data and the audio datarespectively into a predetermined video signal and a predetermined audiosignal. In this situation, to output the video and audio signals with acorrespondence established therebetween, these signals are outputted atsynchronized timing.

The audio processing unit 203 converts the audio signal from theprocessing unit 201 into a signal suitable for an input to the speaker204 and outputs the signal thereto. As a result, the speaker 204produces sounds.

On the other hand, the video processing unit 205 converts the videosignal from the processing unit 201 into a signal suitable for an inputto the display unit 206 and outputs the signal thereto. As a result, thedisplay unit 206 displays an associated image.

Through the sequence of operations, the internet connection terminal 100conducts the reception and playback of the digital broadcast.

Referring now to FIG. 2, description will be given of an operation inwhich the terminal 100 accesses the internet 104 to display an internetsite.

Assume that the user sends a URL of an internet site by radio from theinput unit 102 or the like of the mobile terminal 101 to the internetconnection terminal 100, which will be described later. The terminal 100receives data through the radio communication by the data transmittingand receiving unit 210 and notifies the URL obtained from the data tothe system control unit 202.

The system control unit 202 outputs the URL to the internet browser 208.The browser 208 having received the URL accesses via the system controlunit 202 and the network communication unit 207 an internet siteindicated by the URL to thereby receive data of the homepage of theinternet site.

The network communication unit 207 accesses the internet 104 using acommunication protocol of, for example, HyperText Transfer Protocol(HTTP) to receive the homepage data of the internet site and outputs thedata via the system control unit 202 to the internet browser 208. Thebrowser 208 constructs an image to be displayed as a homepage using thedata, converts the image into a video signal to be inputted to the videoprocessing unit 205, and outputs the signal thereto.

The video processing unit 205 converts the video signal from, thebrowser 208 into a signal suitable for an input to the display unit 206and outputs the signal thereto. The display unit 206 resultantlydisplays the homepage image. During the operation, if there exists datato be temporarily stored in the terminal, the internet browser 208 savesthe data in the data saving unit 209 according to necessity.

If the user conducts a predetermined operation when the internet site isbeing displayed as above, the mobile terminal 101 transmits by radio theURL of the internet site to the internet connection terminal 100 andthen enters a state capable of operating the internet connectionterminal 100. This enables the user to operate the internet connectionterminal 100 from the mobile terminal 101.

Referring now to FIG. 3, description will be given of an operation inwhich the mobile terminal 101 accesses the internet 104 via the basestation 103 to display an internet site.

Assume that the user conducts a predetermined operation for the mobileterminal 101 via the input unit 102 of the mobile terminal 101 toindicate display of the internet site existing in the mobile terminal101.

In response to the indication from the user received via the input unit102, the system control unit 301 of the mobile terminal 101 activatesthe internet browser 302 to display the internet site. The control unit301 accesses the internet site which the browser 302 displays via thecommunication unit 300 immediately after the activation, and issues anindication to the communication unit 300 to receive data of the homepageof the internet site.

The communication unit 300 conducts radio communication with the basestation 103 to access the internet 104 via the base station 103 andreceives the homepage data of the internet site. Also, the communicationunit 300 outputs the data to the internet browser 302. When the data isreceived, the browser 302 constructs an image to be displayed as ahomepage using the data and converts the image into a video signal to beinputted to the video processing unit 304 to output the signal thereto.The processing unit 304 converts the video signal from the browser 302into a signal to be inputted to the display unit 305 to output thesignal thereto. As a result, the display unit 305 displays an image ofthe homepage. During the operation, if there exists data to betemporarily stored in the terminal, the internet browser 302 saves thedata in the data saving unit 303 according to necessity.

Similarly, the mobile terminal 101 obtains a URL as an input from theuser or a URL included in the hyper link and controls operation toaccess an internet site indicated by the URL. The system control unit301 controls operation to store the URL of the internet site displayedby the browser 302 in the data saving unit 303.

Next, description will be given in detail an operation using theinternet connection terminal 100 and the mobile terminal 101.Specifically, an internet site to be displayed on the mobile terminal101 is displayed on the internet connection terminal 100. After thedisplay of the internet site, the internet connection terminal 100 isoperated from the mobile terminal 101. The operation is explained usingFIGS. 4 and 5.

In FIG. 5, operations respectively of the mobile terminal 101 and theinternet connection terminal 100 are shown in frames 500 and 513,respectively. In association with explanation of respective operationflows in the frames 500 and 513, description will be given of theoperation flows in the terminals 101 and 100 and a relationshiptherebetween. Assume in the description that a cellular phone isemployed as an example of the mobile terminal 101 and a television setincluding an internet connecting function is used as an example of theinternet connection terminal 100.

First, by using, for example, the input unit 102, the user beforehandsets a type of the television set for the internet browsing to thecellular phone, which will be described later, by designating a makerand a model number using a predetermined setting screen (step 501). Thenumber such as the model number, the operation, and a signal andinformation to be transmitted are stored in the data saving unit 303with a correspondence established therebetween. The control unit 301establishes a correspondence between the operation stored in the datasaving unit 303 and the information to be transmitted. This resultantlysets a command to transmit the information to the TV set. After thesetup of the command, the system enters a state in which the cellularphone is capable of transmitting a command recognizable by the TV setthereto.

The user powers the TV set by conducting an ordinary operation, and theTV set receives and reproduces a broadcast received from the digitalbroadcast receiving unit 200 as described above (step 514). In step 514,the user operates the TV set as a single device. This state is referredto as an ordinary mode of the TV set. The state in which the TV has beenpowered indicates a state in which at least a main power source thereofis on.

The user conducts a predetermined operation to start displaying aninternet site on the cellular phone. As a result, an internet site isdisplayed on the screen display 401 so that the user browse the internetsite (step 502).

In steps 501 and 502, the user operates the cellular phone as a singledevice. This state is referred to as an ordinary mode of the cellularphone.

Assume that the user attempts, during the internet site browsing, tobrowse the internet site by use of the TV set. In this situation, theuser operates the input unit 102 to select the button 402 in the displayunit 305 of the cellular phone (step 503). Then, the cellular honeenters a display change mode to execute processing to change the displayof the internet site to the TV set.

When the cellular phone enters the display change mode, the systemcontrol unit 301 of the cellular phone sends the URL of the internetsite on the display via the data transmitting and receiving unit 306 tothe TV set (step 504). After the URL transmission or in concurrence withtherewith, the system control unit 301 controls the display unit 305 andthe like to terminate the display of the internet site on the cellularphone. Also, the cellular phone may be configured such that the cellularphone transmits together with the URL a signal indicating the internetsite display to the TV set.

The TV set receives the URL via the data transmitting and receiving unit210 from the cellular phone (step 515), connects to the internet siteindicated by the URL in the procedure described above, and displays theinternet site on the display unit 206 as indicated by the screen display406 (step 516). As a result of step 516, the TV set enters a state toreceive operation from the cellular phone. This mode is referred to asan external operation receive mode. Through the operation of step 516,the display on the TV set changes from the old content to a contentcorresponding to the URL from the cellular phone.

On the other hand, the cellular phone enters, after the transmission ofthe URL, a state in which the system control unit 301 is capable ofoperating the TV set using part of the input unit 102, which will bedescribed later. This mode is referred to as an operation change mode.The display unit 305 presents a display to inform the user of operationswhich can be conducted by pressing keys as shown, for example, in thescreen display 404 (step 505).

In this state in which the TV set can be operated if the user presses adesired key of the input unit 102, data which indicates an operation forthe TV set and which can be interpreted by the TV set designated in step501 is sent to the TV set. The data includes data items almost the sameas those of data sent from a remote control device of the TV set.Therefore, in a situation wherein it is desired to move a selection itemof an internet site being displayed on the TV set or to determine aselection item, if the user operates the input unit 102 of the cellularphone to press a key corresponding to an operation information itemshown in the screen display 404, the cellular phone sends an informationitem and a signal indicating an indication of the operation to the TVset (step 506). As a result of this step, the cellular phone serves as aremote control device of the TV set. The operation of this step iscarried out, for example, under supervision of the system control unit301.

When the data transmitting and receiving unit 210 receives theinformation, and the signal of the operation indication such as “move”or “select” from the cellular phone, the TV set reflects, under controlof the system control unit 201, the information of the indication in thescreen display 406 displaying the internet and in the operation of thebrowser 208 (step 517).

If the user desires to return from the state in which the user browsesthe internet site on the TV set to a state in which the user browses theinternet site on the cellular phone, the user conducts an operation toselect an item of the button display 405 in the display unit 305 of thecellular phone (step 507). Then, the cellular phone sends dataindicating termination of the internet display via the data transmittingand receiving unit 306 to the TV set (step 508). After or in concurrentwith the URL transmission, the internet control unit 202 controls, forexample, the display unit 206 to terminate the internet site display onthe TV set.

When the data transmitting and receiving unit 210 receives the data, theTV set interrupts the internet site display (step 518). Also, the TV setsends the URL of the internet site last displayed on the TV set via thedata transmitting and receiving unit 210 to the cellular phone (step519) and then displays a TV program being displayed before the start ofthe internet display, for example, as shown in the screen display 403(step 520). In step 520, the TV set again enters the state to operate asa single unit, i.e., in the ordinary mode. Moreover, in step 520, the TVset resumes displaying the content being displayed before the receptionof the URL from the cellular phone. It is also possible in step 520 thatthe TV set only terminates the display of the internet site. Thismitigates the operation load imposed on the user to terminate thedisplay on the TV set.

The cellular phone receives the URL of the internet site last displayedon the TV set and then accesses and displays the internet site of theURL (step 510). Resultantly, the internet site display is changed fromthe TV set to the cellular phone, and hence the cellular phone entersthe display change mode. The operation of the step is carried out, forexample, under supervision of the control unit 301. Through theoperation of this step, the cellular phone resumes the internet sitedisplay.

In this situation, the system control unit 301 changes the function toassign part of the keys of the input unit 102 to operate the TV set fromthe cellular phone and treats the keys as those to ordinarily operatethe cellular phone (step 511). The screen display is changed, forexample, from the screen display 404 to the screen display 401, and theuser continues browsing the internet site display as shown in the screendisplay 401 (step 512). In step 512, the cellular phone returns to thestate to operate as a single unit, i.e., in the ordinary mode.

As above, the URL of the internet site to be browsed on the mobileterminal 101 is sent by radio to the internet connection terminal 100.The terminal 100 having received the URL displays the internet site.From the mobile terminal 101, the user operates the internet connectionterminal 100 displaying the internet site.

When the user presses only once the button to change the internetdisplay to the internet connection terminal 100, the mobile terminal 101changes from the ordinary mode for the operation as a single unit to thedisplay change mode to change the display to the internet connectionterminal 100. Subsequently, the mode is sequentially changed to theoperation change mode to operate the internet connection terminal 100from the mobile terminal 101. Also, to display the internet again on themobile terminal 101, if the user presses only once the button to viewthe internee on the mobile terminal 101, the mobile terminal 101conducts a sequence of transition steps. Specifically, the mobileterminal 101 terminates the operation change mode and enters to thedisplay change mode, and then returns to the ordinary mode.

Without conducting any operation for the terminal which desires todisplay an internet site as above, the user can display the internetsite on a large screen through a simple operation using only the mobileterminal 100. Also, the user can continuously employ the mobile terminal100 to operate the terminal which has displayed the internet site. Theuser is capable of smoothly conducting a change-over of the display ofthe internet site between different terminals.

In the screen display 406 of the embodiment, the internet site isdisplayed on the display unit 206 of the internet connection terminal101 in the full screen display mode. However, the internet site may bedisplayed in a partial area of the screen.

In the embodiment, while an internet site is being browsed on the mobileterminal 101, an entity which conducts the communication via theinternet and the processing to receive information to produce a videotherefrom is changed from the mobile terminal 101 to the internetcommunication device or terminal 100. Therefore, for example, if thecommunication speed of the internet communication device 100 to conductcommunication via the internet is higher than that of the mobileterminal 101 to conduct communication via the internet, the user canconduct the operation to carry out the internet browsing from the mobileterminal 101 and also can of conducting the operation through thehigher-speed communication.

In the description of the embodiment, a TV set, a set box device, and aserver for DLNA may be employed as the internet communication device100. In this connection, by using these devices, it is possible to solveproblems occurring in some situations as follows.

For example, these information processing devices such as a TV set areinstalled in a living room or the like to be commonly used by aplurality of persons in many cases. There likely occurs a situationwherein the viewing of the display of the TV set is required to beabruptly interrupted, leading to a problem. Specifically, since aplurality of persons are viewing the TV set, it is difficult for aperson to display an internet site on the TV.

For the user to continue the viewing of the internet site on the mobileterminal 100, there will be considered a case in which, for example, theuser interrupts the viewing of the internet site display screen on theTV set to activate the browser of the cellular phone with acommunication function and then inputs a URL of the internet site to thecellular phone to thereby continue the viewing on the cellular phone.This however leads to a problem of increase in the number of operationsteps.

In consideration of this situation, the problem can be solved by usingthe mobile terminal 101 and the internet connection device 100 accordingto the embodiment. Additionally, there is obtained usability andoperability for the user to easily carry out the operation to change theentity of the display and the communication from the mobile terminal 101to the internet connection device 100 and vice versa.

Although description has been given of the internet as an example ofcontent information in conjunction with the embodiment, the embodimentis not restricted by this example. That is, information indicating suchcontent as a TV program is also available. Also, a URL has beendescribed as an example of the identification information. However, theembodiment is not limited to the URL. For example, informationindicating a channel of a TV program may also be used as theidentification information.

Second Embodiment

Description will now be given of a second embodiment. Specifically,description will be given of a method of implementing an operationequivalent to that of the first embodiment, by use of an infrared-raycommunication to communicate an URL and indications of variousoperations between the internet communication terminal 100 and themobile terminal 101.

The second embodiment will be described by referring to the drawings. Inthe description, almost the same constituent components as those of thefirst embodiment are assigned with the same reference numerals, anddescription thereof will be avoided.

The internet communication terminal 100 of the second embodiment shownin FIG. 6 differs from that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 inthat the data transmitting and receiving unit 210 is replaced by aninfrared-ray transmitting and receiving unit 600. The unit 600communicates data according to a communication format prescribed by, forexample, a maker and using an infrared-ray communication conforming tothe IrDA (Infrared Data Association) standard.

The mobile terminal 101 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7 differsfrom that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 in that the datatransmitting and receiving unit 306 is replaced by an infrared-raytransmitting and receiving unit 700. The unit 700 communicates datausing an infrared-ray signal conforming to, for example, the IrDAstandard.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7 and the flowchart of FIGS. 8A and 8B,description will be given of operation of the second embodiment.According to this embodiment, in the reception and reproduction of adigital broadcast, when the internet connection terminal 100 receives anURL of an internet site sent through an infrared-ray communication fromthe mobile terminal 101 as a result of an operation by the user, theinternet connection terminal 100 displays the internet site and thenreceives an operation of the terminal 100 from the mobile terminal 101through the infrared-ray communication.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are added with the steps in bold-line frames to theflowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment. In FIGS. 8A and 8B, like inFIG. 5, operations respectively of the mobile terminal 101 and theinternet connection terminal 100 are shown in the frames 500 and 513,respectively. In association with explanation of respective operationflows in the frames 500 and 513, description will be given of theoperation flows in the terminals 101 and 100 and a relationshiptherebetween. Assume in the description that a cellular phone isemployed as an example of the mobile terminal 101 and a television setincluding an internet connecting function is used as an example of theinternet connection terminal 100.

First, by using, for example, the input unit 102, the user beforehandsets to the cellular phone a type of the television set for the internetbrowsing, which will be described later, by designating a maker and amodel number using a predetermined setting screen (step 501). In thisembodiment, the command is, for example, a general infrared-ray commandto be received and processed by a TV set. The general infrared-raycommand is a command which is transmitted in a format of, for example, aPulse Position Modulation (PPM). The format of the command isdetermined, for example, for each maker and is a format employed for thecommunication with an associated remote control device.

The user powers the TV set by conducting an ordinary operation. The TVset receives a broadcast via the digital broadcast receiving unit 200and reproduces the broadcast as described above (step 514).

The user conducts an operation to start a predetermined internet displayon the cellular phone. As a result, an internet site is displayed on thescreen display 401 so that the user browses the internet site (step502).

Assume that the user attempts, during the internet site browsing, tobrowse the internet site by use of the TV set. In this situation, theuser operates the input unit 102 of the cellular phone to select thebutton 402 in the display unit 305 (step 503).

In response to the operation, the infrared-ray transmitting andreceiving unit 700 of the cellular phone transmits an infrared-raycommand recognizable by a TV set of the type designated in step 501 tothereby start IrDA communication (step 800). The TV set having receivedthe command starts the IrDA communication (step 801) to request thecellular phone to connect to the IrDA communication (step 802). Thecellular phone prepares, immediately after the command transmission instep 800, to start connecting to the IrDA communication and responds tothe IrDA communication connection from the TV set. The IrDAcommunication connection is established between the TV set and thecellular phone (step 803). After the URL transmission or in concurrencetherewith, the system control unit 301 controls the display unit 305 andassociated constituent elements to terminate the internet site displayon the cellular phone.

After the IrDA communication connection is established, the systemcontrol unit 301 of the cellular phone sends by the infrared-raytransmitting and receiving unit 700 the URL of the internet site beingon the display through the IrDA communication to the TV set (step 504).

The TV set receives the URL via the infrared-ray transmitting andreceiving unit 600 from the cellular phone (step 515). Also, the TV setsends by the infrared-ray transmitting and receiving unit 700 dataindicating successful reception of the URL via the IrDA communication tothe cellular phone (step 804). When the data is received (step 805), thecellular phone disconnects the IrDA communication conducted by the unit700 (step 806). As a result of the disconnection, the TV set alsoterminates the IrDA communication of the data transmitting and receivingunit 600 to enter a state to receive an ordinary infrared-ray commandalso used by a remote control device, not shown. The TV set thenconnects to the internet site indicated by the URL in the proceduredescribed above, and displays the internet site on the display unit 206as indicated by the screen display 406 (step 516).

On the other hand, after the transmission of the URL, the cellular phoneenters a state in which the system control unit 301 is capable ofoperating the TV set, which will be described later, by using part ofthe input unit 102. The display unit 305 presents a display to informthe user of operations which can be conducted by pressing keys as shown,for example, in the screen display 404 (step 505). In this state inwhich the TV set can be operated, if the user presses an associated keyof the input unit 102, an infrared-ray command which indicates anoperation for the TV set and which can be interpreted by the TV setdesignated in step 501 is sent via the infrared-ray transmitting andreceiving unit 700 to the TV set. The infrared-ray command includesinformation almost the same as that of an infrared-ray command sent froma remote control device of the TV set. Therefore, in a situation whereinit is desired to move a selection item of an internet site beingdisplayed on the TV set or to determine a selection item, if the useroperates the input unit 102 of the cellular phone to press a keycorresponding to an operation information item shown in the screendisplay 404, the cellular phone sends an indication of the operation tothe TV set (step 506).

When the operation indication is received from the cellular phone, theTV set reflects the information of the indication in the screen display406 displaying the internet and in the operation of the browser 208(step 517).

In the state in which the user browses the internet site on the TV set,if it is desired to return to a state in which the user browses theinternet site on the cellular phone, the user conducts an operation toselect an associated item of the button display 405 in the display unit305 of the cellular phone (step 507). Then, the cellular phone sends aninfrared-ray command indicating termination of the internet display viathe infrared-ray transmitting and receiving unit 700 to the TV set (step508).

When the infrared-ray command is received, the TV set interrupts theinternet site display (step 518). The TV set starts the IrDAcommunication to request the cellular phone to connect to the IrDAcommunication (step 808). On the other hand, immediately after thetransmission of the infrared-ray command, the cellular phone starts theIrDA communication to receive the request for the connection to the IrDAcommunication from the TV set, and the IrDA communication is resultantlyestablished (step 809).

After the communication connection is established, the TV set sends theURL of the internet site last displayed on the TV set via theinfrared-ray transmitting and receiving unit 600 to the cellular phone(step 519). The cellular phone receives the URL (step 509) and sendsdata indicating successful reception of the URL through the IrDAcommunication to the TV set. (step 810). The TV set receives the data(step 811), terminates the IrDA communication of the unit 600, andenters a state to receive an ordinary infrared-ray command like that tobe received from a remote control device, not shown (step 812). Also,the TV displays a TV program being displayed before the start of theinternet display, for example, as shown in the screen display 403 (step520).

On the other hand, after receiving the URL of the internet site lastdisplayed on the TV set, the cellular phone terminates the IrDAcommunication. (step 813) and then accesses and displays the internetsite of the URL (step 510). In this situation, the system control unit301 changes the function to assign part of the keys of the input unit102 to operate the TV set from the cellular phone and treats the keys asthose to ordinarily operate the cellular phone (step 511). The screendisplay is changed, for example, from the screen display 404 to thescreen display 401, and the user continues browsing the internet sitedisplay as shown in the screen display 401 (step 512).

As above, the URL of the internet site to be browsed on the mobileterminal 101 is sent through the infrared-ray communication to theinternet connection terminal 100. The terminal 100 having received theURL displays thereon the internet site. From the mobile terminal. 101,the user operates the internet connection terminal 100 displaying theinternet site. In Association with the transmission of the URL and theoperation indication, the operation in which the TV set is operated fromthe cellular phone is implemented, by conducting a change-over betweenthe communication using an infrared-ray command received by the TV froma remote control device and the communication of IrDA.

Therefore, without conducting any operation for the terminal whichdesires to display an internet site as above, the user can display theinternet site on a larger screen through a simple operation using onlythe mobile terminal 100. Also, the user can continuously use the mobileterminal 100 to operate the terminal which has displayed the internetsite. The user is capable of smoothly conducting a change-over of theinternet site display between different terminals.

Although the IrDA communication is employed to transmit the URL in theconfiguration of the embodiment, there may be employed any appropriatecommunication other than the IrDA communication.

In the description of the embodiment, a TV set, a set box device, and aserver for DLNA may be employed as the internet communication device100. In this connection, by using these devices, it is possible to solveproblems occurring in some situations as follows.

For example, for the general infrared-ray command used in a TV set, thetypes of such commands to be communicated are limited or thecommunication speed is limited. On the other hand, the signal indicatinginformation of operation is larger in the amount of information than thesignal which is communicated by a remote control device only to turn onor off the power source. Hence, when the general infrared-ray commandused, there occurs a problem in which the URL and the information ofoperation cannot be communicated between the portable terminal and theinformation processing apparatus or a problem in which the communicationof information, even if possible, takes a long period of time.

On the other hand, in the communication conforming to IrDA, it isrequired to establish communication between the mobile terminal. 101 andthe internet connection terminal 100 to communicate informationtherebetween. Therefore, if a change-over from the communication of thegeneral command to the IrDA communication is not conducted, it isrequired in any situation that the information processing apparatusenters the state to wait for the IrDA communication. Moreover, if thestate to establish the connection is kept set as above, there occurs adrawback in which the internet connection terminal 100 cannot conductthe infrared-ray communication with other devices.

According to the embodiment, since the communication is changed using asa trigger a command, i.e., a general infrared-ray command, the drawbackis removed, and it is possible to improve operability and usability.

Although the IrDA communication has been described as an example in theembodiment, it is also possible to use, for example, a communication byBluetooth, a wireless communication such as a wireless LAN, and ashort-distance communication such as a communication by sound waves. Theembodiment is particularly useful in a communication using acommunication scheme in which a communication link is established tocommunicate information.

Although description has been given of the internet as an example of thecontent information in conjunction with the embodiment, the embodimentis not restricted by this example. That is, information indicating suchcontent as a TV program is also available. Moreover, a URL has beendescribed as an example of the identification information. However, theembodiment is not limited by this example. For example, informationindicating a channel of a TV program may also be used as theidentification information.

Third Embodiment

Description will now be given of a third embodiment, specifically, amethod of implementing an operation in the communication of an URL andindications of various operations between the internet communicationterminal 100 and the mobile terminal 101 of the first embodiment.According to the embodiment, there are conducted not only an operationto display internet indicated by the URL, but also an operation in whichthe state of the mobile terminal 101 displaying the internet site isalso passed from the mobile terminal 101 to the internet communicationterminal 100.

The state of the mobile terminal 101 displaying the internet siteindicates, for example, a state wherein the mobile terminal 101 isdisplaying a screen after the login of an internet site for whichauthentication is required. Furthermore, the state wherein the mobileterminal 101 is displaying a screen indicates a display state after adisplay state change of an internet site in which a content displaystate dynamically changes with an associated URL kept unchanged.

The information representing the display state includes, for example,information indicating a history of user operations which haveinfluenced upon the display on the display unit 305. The informationrepresenting the display state may also include information which Is notincluded in the URL and which influences upon the display on the displayunit 305 in the internet site browsing. Also, the display staterepresenting information may be information indicating a characterencoding item designating, for example, Shift-JIS, enhanced Unix Code(EUC), or Unicode Transformation Format (UTF)-8. In addition, theinformation may also be Cookie. Furthermore, in a situation wherein themobile terminal 101 is displaying an internet site, the information maybe information indicating, for example, the position of a scroll bar. Asfor the position of a pointer or the like, the information may beinformation indicating a relative position thereof on the displayscreen. As a result, even if the display area size varies between themobile terminal 101 and the internet connection terminal 100, therelative position can be reproduced on the internet connection terminal100.

The third embodiment will be described by referring to the drawingswherein an internet site requiring authentication is passed from themobile terminal 101 to the internet connection terminal 100. In thedescription, almost the same constituent components as those of thepreceding embodiments are assigned with the same reference numerals, anddescription thereof will be avoided.

FIG. 9 shows an example of items and information thereof in a useroperation history 900 used in an operation in which the user browses aninternet site requiring authentication. Specifically, the mobileterminal 101 records the items of the operation history for each useroperation for the internet site and then saves the operation history 900in the data saving unit 303.

The information in the operation history 900 includes, for example, acharacter string inputted to a text box, information items indicating abutton and an icon used on the internet site, and information indicatingan item selected in a list box. The information in the operation history900 may also include information indicating a URL displayed as a resultof the operation.

FIG. 10 shows an example of items and information thereof in a useroperation history 1000 used in an operation wherein the user browses aninternet content in which the internet content dynamically changes withthe URL kept unchanged. The mobile terminal 101 records the items of theoperation history 1000 for each user operation for the internet contentand then saves the operation history 1000 in the data saving unit 303.The operation history 1000 includes, for example, information indicatinga position of coordinates clicked by the user.

FIG. 11 shows transmitted data sent from the mobile terminal 101 to theinternet connection terminal 100. The data 1100 includes header data1101 including a data length and information to identify a data type, aninternet site URL 1102, and an operation history 900.

Next, operation of the third embodiment will be described by referringto FIGS. 9 to 11 and the flowchart of FIG. 12. In the embodiment, if theinternet site to be browsed by the user is, for example, an internetsite requiring authentication or an internet content in which theinternet content dynamically changes with the URL kept unchanged, themobile terminal 101 records an operation history 900 of user operationsfor the internet site. In the transmission of a URL of an internet siteto the internet connection terminal 100 in a manner similar to that ofthe first embodiment, the mobile terminal 101 sends transmission data1100 including the operation history in addition to the URL thereto. Ifthe data 51100 is received, the terminal 100 accesses the internet siteof the URL, conducts an operation substantially equal to the useroperation indicated by the operation history 900 for the resultantlydisplayed internet site, and displays the internet site for which theoperation has been carried out.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart implemented by adding steps shown in bold-lineframes to the flowchart of FIG. 1 used in the first embodiment. FIG. 12shows operations respectively of the mobile terminal 101 and theinternet connection terminal 100 respectively in frames 500 and 513 asin FIG. 5. Description will be given of the operations of the frames 500and 513 in a concurrent fashion. That is, the operation flows of theterminals 101 and 100 and a relationship between the operation flowswill be described at the same time. Assume in the description that acellular phone is employed as an example of the mobile terminal 101 anda television set including an internet connecting function is used as anexample of the internet connection terminal 100.

According to the embodiment, in a situation wherein the user is browsingan internet site in step 502, each time the user conducts an operation,e.g., selection or input of a data item for the internet site, thecellular phone records the operation histories 900 and 1000 in the datasaving unit 209 (step 1201).

However, it is not necessary required that the cellular phone recordsthe operation histories 900 and 1000 of all internet sites browsed bythe user. That is, the cellular phone may record the histories only foreach internet site for which, for example, the URL starts with HypertextTransfer Protocol Security (HTTPS), i.e., for which security isessential, each internet site dynamically created by a function such asActive Server Pages (ASP), or each internet site of which documentlayout information of the displayed internet site includes aninteractive content such as FLASH (registered trademark). If theinternet site includes a content of FLASH or ASP, the site is definedusing a tag in a source file. Hence, the cellular phone can determinethe type of the internet site using the tag.

Also, if the internet site is an internet site dynamically created, itis not required to store all operation histories in the operationhistory 1100. The operation history may be configured to record ahistory associated with operations which have changed the display. Forexample, if the internet site includes a dynamic FLASH content, theoperation history may be configured to record operations such as aclicking operation and an input operation of a character string for thedynamic content.

In step 503, to view the internet site on the TV set, when the userconducts an operation to select a button corresponding to the buttondisplay 402 presented on the display unit 305 of the cellular phone, thecellular phone creates transmission data 1100 including a URL 1102 ofthe internet site as an initial point of the recording for the operationhistory 900 or 1000, the operation history 900 or 1000, and header data1101, and then sends the transmission data 1100 to the TV set. After theURL transmission, the system control unit 301 controls the display unit305 to terminate the display of the internet site on the cellular phone.

On the other hand, at reception of the transmission data 1100 (step1203), the TV set accesses the internet of the URL 1102, conducts theoperation indicated by the operation history 900 or 1000 for theinternet site, and displays the internet site for which the operationhas been conducted (step 1204).

In steps 509 and 519 in which the TV set sends a URL to the cellularphone to return control to the cellular phone to access and to displaythe internet site, a method similar to that described above is alsoemployed.

If the internet site which the user browses on the cellular phone is aninternet site requiring authentication or an internet content in whichthe internet content dynamically changes with the URL kept unchanged,the TV set records the operation histories 900 and 1000 of useroperations for the internet site in the data saving unit 209. Also, theTV set sends transmission data 1100 including a URL of the internet siteas an initial point of the recording for the operation histories 900 and1000 and the operation histories 900 or 1000 to the cellular phone. Thecellular phone having received the data 1100 accesses the internet siteof the URL and conducts an operation indicated by the operationhistories 900 and 1000, producing an internet site in the state afterthe operation. The TV set also displays the internet site thus produced.

Therefore, to conduct a change-over operation of the access to one andthe same internet site between different terminals, it is possible forthe user, also in a situation wherein the internet site being browsed isan internet site requiring authentication or is a dynamically changinginternet content with the URL kept unchanged, to smoothly achieve thechange-over operation without again conducting the authentication andthe content operation for the terminal which accesses the internet siteafter the change-over.

In a situation wherein a cellular phone sends a URL without any displayinformation to an information processing apparatus such as a TV set, aninternet site of the URL is displayed on the information processingapparatus in a state in which no operation influencing the display hasbeen conducted. Hence, if the configuration of the internet site becomesmore complex, a larger number of operation steps are required from thetransmission of the URL to the setup of the state in which the operationon the cellular phone is reflected in the information processingapparatus. However, according to the mobile terminal 101 and theinternet connection terminal 100 of the embodiment, it is possible toreduce the operation steps.

Description has been given of the first to third embodiments. The smoothaccess change-over associated with the internet communication between aplurality of terminals is achievable even if the mobile terminal 101 isreplaced with any other information processing terminal.

According to the portable terminal of the embodiments, there areprovided a portable terminal, an information processing apparatus, acontent display system, and a content display method in which theviewing of a content on the portable terminal is smoothly passed to aninformation processing apparatus.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art thatalthough the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of theinvention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1-4. (canceled)
 5. A smartphone comprising: a transceiver arranged tocommunicate with a cellular base station via a cellular connection andreceive a content from an Internet; a display panel comprising a touchpanel arranged to display the content received by the transceiver, thetouch panel configured to receive one or more user operations based onone or more inputs provided by a user; a data transmitting and receivingdevice arranged to conduct communication with an external device capableof executing video processing for displaying a content for an externaldisplay which is different from the display panel of the smartphone; anda controller arranged to control the transceiver, the data transmittingand receiving device and the display panel, wherein: during thedisplaying of a content on the display panel, if a first user operationinstructing the content to be processed for displaying by the externaldisplay of the external device is inputted at a first point of time tothe touch panel, then thereafter the controller controls: the datatransmitting and receiving device to transmit identification informationidentifying the content to the external device without transmitting thecontent to the external device in order to cause the same content as thecontent displayed on the display panel at the first point of time tostart to be processed for displaying by the external display of theexternal device; and in response to the data transmitting and receivingdevice transmitting the identification information, the display panel toterminate the display of the content on the display panel and to displayinformation on the display panel for inputting to the touch panel asecond user operation to operate the content which is processed fordisplaying by the external display of the external device after thefirst point of time, after the displaying of the content on the displaypanel is terminated, the smartphone is made to serve as a remote controldevice which is configured to operate the external device such that ifthe second user operation to operate the content is inputted at a secondpoint of time to the touch panel, then thereafter the controllercontrols the data transmitting and receiving device to transmitinformation related to the second user operation to the external device,and during the processing of the content for displaying for the externaldisplay by the external device, if a third user operation instructingthe content to be displayed on the display panel is inputted at a thirdpoint of time to the touch panel, then thereafter the controllercontrols: the data transmitting and receiving device to transmitinformation related to the third user operation to the external device;and the display panel to display the same content, without receiving thecontent from the external device, as the content which is processed fordisplaying by the external display of the external device at the thirdpoint of time.
 6. The smartphone according to claim 5, furthercomprising: a memory storing software to implement a browser to displaya webpage received from the Internet, wherein the data transmitting andreceiving device is configured to conduct communications with theexternal device to display, on the external device, the webpage that isbeing displayed on the display panel.
 7. The smartphone according toclaim 5, further comprising: a memory storing software to implement abrowser for browsing the Internet, wherein the smartphone stores historyinformation based on an input to the touch panel by a user duringbrowsing an internet site.
 8. The smartphone according to claim 5,further comprising: a memory storing software to implement a browser forbrowsing the Internet, wherein the touch panel is configured to receive,from a user, input of a URL address for the browser.
 9. The smartphoneaccording to claim 5, wherein the data transmitting and receiving deviceconducts Bluetooth communication with the external device in accordancewith a Bluetooth standard.
 10. The smartphone according to claim 5,wherein the controller conducts control such that after the transmissionof the identification information to the external device, the displaypanel is configured to display an option allowing a user to resumedisplay of the content on the display panel of the smartphone instead ofthe external display of the external device.
 11. The smartphoneaccording to claim 10, wherein the controller conducts control such thatif the third user operation instructing the content to be displayed onthe display panel is inputted to the touch panel, the control to makethe smartphone serve as a remote control device is terminated.
 12. Thesmartphone according to claim 5, wherein the controller conducts controlsuch that: after the transmission of the identification information tothe external device, the display panel is configured to display anoption allowing a user to resume display of the content on the displaypanel of the smartphone instead of the external display of the externaldevice; and if the third user operation instructing the content to bedisplayed on the display panel is inputted to the touch panel, thecontrol to make the smartphone serve as a remote control device isterminated.
 13. The smartphone according to claim 5, further comprising:a memory storing software to implement a browser to display a webpagereceived from the Internet, wherein the data transmitting and receivingdevice is configured to conduct communications with the external deviceto display, on the external device, the webpage that is being displayedon the display panel, wherein: the smartphone stores history informationbased on an input to the touch panel by a user during browsing aninternet site, the touch panel is configured to receive, from a user,input of a URL address for the browser, the data transmitting andreceiving device conducts Bluetooth communication with the externaldevice in accordance with a Bluetooth standard, and the controllerconducts control such that after the transmission of the identificationinformation to the external device, the display panel is configured todisplay an option allowing the user to resume display of the content onthe display panel of the smartphone instead of the external display ofthe external device.
 14. The smartphone according to claim 5, whereinthe display panel is configured to further display a setting screen fordesignating the external device, and wherein the touch panel receives aninput of identification information to designate the external devicefrom a user on the setting screen.
 15. The smartphone according to claim5, wherein the information related to the third user operation to theexternal device includes an instruction instructing the external deviceto terminate the display of the content.
 16. The smartphone according toclaim 5, wherein the first user operation is input to the touch panel ifa first icon displayed on the display panel is touched by a user, andthe third user operation is input to the touch panel if a second icondisplayed on the display panel is touched by a user.
 17. The smartphoneaccording to claim 16, wherein the first icon and the second icon aredisplayed exclusively in a same position on the display panel.
 18. Thesmartphone according to claim 16, wherein the controller controls thedisplay panel such that the second icon is not displayed when the firsticon is displayed, and the first icon is not displayed when the secondicon is displayed.
 19. The smartphone according to claim 16, wherein thecontroller controls the display panel to display the second icontogether with the information for inputting the second user operation.20. The smartphone according to claim 16, wherein when the datatransmitting and receiving device transmits the identificationinformation to the external device, the controller controls the datatransmitting and receiving device to further transmit state informationon display state to the external device in order to permit viewing ofthe content, which is being displayed on the smartphone, on the externaldevice.
 21. A smartphone comprising: a transceiver arranged tocommunicate with a cellular base station via a cellular connection andreceive a content from an Internet; a display panel comprising a touchpanel arranged to display the content received by the transceiver, thetouch panel configured to receive one or more user operations based onone or more inputs provided by a user; a data transmitting and receivingdevice arranged to conduct communication with an external device capableof executing video processing for displaying a content for an externaldisplay which is different from the display panel of the smartphone; anda controller arranged to control the transceiver, the data transmittingand receiving device and the display panel, wherein: during thedisplaying of a content on the display panel, if a first icon displayedon the display panel is touched on the touch panel by a user at a firstpoint of time, then thereafter the controller controls: the datatransmitting and receiving device to transmit identification informationidentifying the content to the external device without transmitting thecontent to the external device in order to cause the same content as thecontent displayed on the display panel at the first point of time tostart to be processed for displaying by the external display of theexternal device; and in response to the data transmitting and receivingdevice transmitting the identification information, the display panel toterminate the display of the content on the display panel and to displayinformation on the display panel for inputting to the touch panel a useroperation to operate the content which is processed for displaying bythe external display of the external device after the first point oftime, after the displaying of the content on the display panel isterminated, the smartphone is made to serve as a remote control devicewhich is configured to operate the external device such that if the useroperation to operate the content is inputted at a second point of timeto the touch panel, then thereafter the controller controls the datatransmitting and receiving device to transmit information related to theuser operation to the external device, and during the processing of thecontent for displaying for the external display by the external device,if a second icon displayed on the display panel is touched on the touchpanel by a user at a third point of time, then thereafter the controllercontrols: the data transmitting and receiving device to transmitinformation instructing the content to be displayed by the display panelof the external device; and the display panel to display the samecontent, without receiving the content from the external device, as thecontent which is processed for displaying for the external display bythe external device at the third point of time.
 22. The smartphoneaccording to claim 21, further comprising: a memory storing software toimplement a browser to display a webpage received from the Internet,wherein the data transmitting and receiving device is configured toconduct communications with the external device to display, on theexternal device, the webpage that is being displayed on the displaypanel.
 23. The smartphone according to claim 21, further comprising: amemory storing software to implement a browser for browsing theInternet, wherein the smartphone stores history information based on aninput to the touch panel by a user during browsing an internet site. 24.The smartphone according to claim 21, wherein the data transmitting andreceiving device conducts Bluetooth communication with the externaldevice in accordance with a Bluetooth standard.